Assessment of the Internal Pressure Fragility of the CANDU Type Containment Buildings using Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis

In this paper an assessment of the internal pressure fragility of the CANDU type containment buildings is performed. The uncertainties of the performance of the containment buildings, material properties and tendon characteristics are referred from the in-service reports of Wolsung Unit 1. The containment buildings are modeled as a three-dimensional finite elements with considering the major opening and penetrations. A new method to evaluate the probabilistic fragility of the massive structural system is developed. The fragility curves of the target containment building are presented with repect to the failure modes and reliability levels. The center of wall is reveled as the most weak structural component of the containment building in the sense of the rupture and catastrophic rupture failure modes.